Related Summaries

The 2020 Commission of Los Angeles has proposed the merger of its port with that of Long Beach, Calif. The commission said combining their resources would help make them more competitive with other ports. However, Long Beach port officials are not fond of the idea. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has approved a $500-million project for BNSF that borders Long Beach neighborhoods. The facility will allow the railroad to handle up to 2.8 million container units from the ports. This approval has also upset the Long Beach officials.

A sound business strategy for U.S. ports' inland operations mainly includes a close partnership with railroads, said J. Christopher Lytle, executive director for the Port of Oakland in California. For instance, the ports of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., could use rail as a tool to put them on par with the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as rail and inland port capabilities are equally important for any port, Lytle said.

An estimated $700 million project to enhance rail infrastructure is being planned for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. The initiative aims to create more on-dock rail capacity that would reduce traffic congestion from trucks, said Carlo Luzzi, an engineer for the Port of Long Beach.

Federal agents have increased radiation inspections on ships bringing goods from Japan to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Since March 18, inspectors have flagged three vessels and 1,800 containers for further inspection, but all were eventually cleared and released, authorities say. April imports at the ports are expected to rise 8.2% above March levels, according to NRF figures, but imports of high-tech goods and cars from Japan are expected to decrease in the coming months as the country's factories struggle to recover from earthquake and tsunami damage and power outages.

Los Angeles County officials have been asked to delay declaring a contractor in default after he abandoned a seismic retrofit of the Queensway Bay Bridge connecting downtown Long Beach with the Port of Long Beach. The Department of Public Works wants until mid-April to work out the dispute with contractor A.M. Classic. Owner Oscar Mahdavi told the Los Angeles Times that his company is owed $1 million by the city, which he said has been "very, very harsh" on this project.